Hurricanes place former first-round pick on unconditional waivers

After multiple conflicting reports over the last several days, it appears Evgeny Kuznetsov’s time in the NHL is coming to an end for the foreseeable future. 

According to a team announcement, the Carolina Hurricanes have placed Kuznetsov on unconditional waivers for contract termination. Assuming that Kuznetsov clears waivers, it is expected he will return to Russia to play in the Kontinental Hockey League.

Although his landing spot in the KHL has not been announced, it is more than likely that Kuznetsov will end up with SKA St. Petersburg on a multiyear agreement, according to prior reporting yesterday. 

SKA St. Petersburg is the current home of former NHL players Alex Galchenyuk, Brendan Leipsic and Valentin Zykov while also being the home of the recent fifth overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft, Ivan Demidov.

According to PuckPedia, Kuznetsov will walk away from $6M by mutually terminating his contract while his separate $3.9M cap hits with the Hurricanes and Washington Capitals will be lifted from both teams' salary-cap structures. Kuznetsov was due a $2M signing bonus on July 1 as part of his contract, which has already been paid out.

Kuznetsov was the 26th overall selection of the Capitals in the 2010 NHL Draft and he made his debut a few years later in the 2013-2014 NHL season. He got off to a relatively slow start during his freshman and sophomore campaigns in the NHL but became one of the game’s top centers only a year later. Kuznetsov scored 20 goals and 77 points in 82 games for Washington in the 2013-2014 regular season while finishing 19th in Hart Trophy voting.

He became a steady playmaker for the Capitals during the organization’s most successful run in its history. The Russian forward scored 119 goals and 373 points over 420 games in Washington from 2016-2022 while leading the playoffs in assists (20) and points (32) during the team’s run to a Stanley Cup championship in 2018. 

Unfortunately, due to numerous off-ice issues and a stint in the NHLPA Player Assistance Program, it became apparent that Kuznetsov had a lack of desire to continue playing in Washington as his on-ice production suffered.

The Capitals moved on from Kuznetsov this past trade deadline by dealing him to the Hurricanes for a draft pick and retaining 50 percent of his salary. Kuznetsov notched two goals and seven points in 20 regular-season games for Carolina while collecting another four goals and six points in 10 postseason contests.

At 32 years old, Kuznetsov theoretically could return to the NHL in the future, but that does not appear as the route he will take. He will more than likely finish his NHL career with 173 goals and 575 points in 743 games with another 33 goals and 73 points in 97 postseason contests, including a Stanley Cup ring.

Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff was the first to report the Hurricanes would place Kuznetsov on unconditional waivers.